Two for Four

Ben and I were invited to FOUR 4th of July parties, and instead of picking and choosing, we decided to try to hit all of them. We plotted them out geographically, and decided that the order that made the most sense would be 1) Meg and Tex 2) Marni and Luke 3) Ursula and Mitchell and 4) Naomi and Shane. Ben spent the night Saturday, so he, Brad and I headed over to Meg and Tex's around noon. Jenna had taken my advice about finding new friends and joined a lesbian Meetup group. They were having a barbecue in the park, which Jenna was going to go to, and then meet up with us later at Marni's.

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Brad, Jenny, Ben and I headed over to Meg and Tex's together, and it was a great time. Meg and Tex seemed to be getting along wonderfully, and really, when things are good between them, they're pretty much the cutest couple I know -- you can tell Tex thinks her over-the-top Meg-ness is simply adorable, and his Southern-tinged sardonic observations about everything positively delight her.

Nate and Mandy were there, too. They had heard about the drama at work with Ian and Gavin, and I gave them all the details I knew. Nate said if the chaos got to be too much, he had two projects lined up, in addition to the one he's working on now, and could use the help. I'm tempted. Mandy and I also lamented how we had every intention of keeping in touch and getting together after she left, but have both flaked on it. We vowed to be better in the future.

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After a couple of hours, we headed out and over to Marni and Luke's.

"I have good news, and news that I'm not sure how you'll take," Marni whispered when we arrived.

It's nuts, but my heart started racing, like it did back in the days when the prospect of seeing Ed at one of these things would send me into panic mode. I grabbed Ben's hand and headed into the backyard. I saw Jenna first. She was sitting across the table from Sarah and another woman I didn't recognize, with Leslie at her side. She waved us over and on our way, Ben gave my hand a squeeze. I gave him a grateful smile.

When we approached the table, I gave a wave to the entire group. Sarah and I made eye contact, but she quickly looked away. Sarah's friend Ellen, the assistant director on her show, introduced herself to Ben and I. We sat and talked for the next hour. Bizarrely, Sarah and I managed to go the entire time without once addressing each other. It was uncomfortable, and I was getting a weird vibe from Ellen. I thought it was because of things being so broken between Sarah and I, until she got up to go to the bathroom. She had left her phone in the middle of the table, and it rang. I saw the name on the caller ID: Brandon. I suddenly knew, without a doubt, that Ellen and Brandon were dating. No one needed to confirm it. I just knew.

We left shortly thereafter, and when we got outside, Ben turned me toward him, wrapped his arms around my waist, and pulled me close.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. It was just weird seeing Sarah again."

He looked at me like he was waiting for me to say something.

"And I'm pretty sure Ellen is dating Brandon," I said. "Which is also kind of weird."

"I get that," he said. "It's always weird when your exes move on, even if you have, too. Wanna skip the rest of the parties and go back to your place?"

"I do," I said thankfully.

As we drifted off to sleep later that night, Ben grabbed my hand and kissed it.

"Thanks for not being sketchy earlier," he said.

"You're welcome," I said. "And as it turns out, telling you the truth is a lot easier."